Firstly, Woods’ 13th major championship didn’t come as easily as he might have expected or hoped, but it came.

And, when Woods’ PGA Championship victory was completed late yesterday afternoon amidst suffocating 102-degree heat at Southern Hills – giving him his 13th career major-championship victory and moving him closer to Jack Nicklaus – his reward was wife Elin and his infant baby girl, Sam Alexis, waiting for him in the scoring trailer behind the 18th green.

Make no mistake: This was an emotional win for Woods because it was his first as a father.

The sight that had always been such a fabric of Woods’ major victories was his father, Earl, waiting on 18 to give him a big bear hug. Earl Woods, of course, died last year. Elin and Sam Alexis were here all week, but yesterday was the first day they were at the course.

“This is a feeling I’ve never had before, having Sam and Elin there,” Woods said. “It feels a lot more special when you have your family there. It used to be my mom and dad. Now Elin and I have our own daughter. It’s evolved, and this one feels so much more special than the other majors.”

Though Woods didn’t get to enjoy that moment until he putted out for par on 18 to wild roars from the throng of fans packed into the huge amphitheater-like setting, there were few who believed he wouldn’t close the tournament out.

Woody Austin, who finished second at 6-under with a final-round 67, and Ernie Els, who finished 5-under with a 66, made significant runs at Woods and forced him to find overdrive late in his round to secure the win.

But Woods, in spite of a couple of back-nine hiccups, never seemed to lose control of himself or the tournament.

“He knows he’s going to win,” said Arron Oberholser, who tied for fourth at 1-under. “The scary thing is that he knows that you know he’s going to win. That’s the kicker of it all.”

Padraig Harrington, asked what makes Woods so good, took a long pause before saying, “He believes … that’s the best answer in two words: He believes.”

Woods said winning his first major of the year makes 2007 “turn out to be a great year.”

Five more major-championship wins and Woods ties Nicklaus’ record of 18. Six more and he owns the record that likely never will be broken.

“When you first start your career, 18 is just a long way away,” said Woods, who is 31 years old. “And even though I’m at 13, it’s still a long way away. You can’t get it done in one year. It’s going to take time. It took Jack 20-plus years to get it done.

“Hopefully, health permitting and everything goes right and I keep improving, I’ll one day surpass that. I could not ask for a better start to my career. If you would ask me that 12 years into my career would I have had this many wins and this many majors, there’s no way.

“I’ve exceeded my own expectations, and I’m certainly not against that.”

Woods’ win solidified his status as the greatest closer the game has ever seen; he’s 13-0 in majors when entering the final round with at least a share of the lead.

In his PGA Tour career, he’s 40-3 when entering the final round with at least a share of the lead. He’s also 24-0 in tournaments in which he’s entered the final round with more than a one-shot lead.

This win gives Woods back-to-back PGA Championships and this is his fourth overall, but this one didn’t come easily.

Things got dodgy as Els and Austin kept the pressure on and Woods made a rare three-putt bogey on the 14th hole, missing a five-footer for par. That left Woods, who led by five at 9-under when he birdied No. 8, with a scant one-shot lead over the two.

“I felt like I gave all the momentum back to Woody and Ernie, and I felt like, ‘I got myself into this mess, I need to get myself out of it,'” Woods said. “I did some serious yelling at myself going up to the 15th tee to just bear down.”

He did, of course, and birdied No. 15 to regain the two-shot lead.

“I felt like I had the momentum again, and I was back in control of the tournament, and if I parred in I felt I would win the tournament,” Woods said.

And so he did. And when he walked up the steep hill behind the 18th green, his gifts awaited in the form of his wife with his daughter in her arms.

Sam Alexis, by the way, was wearing red, the same color her father wears in final rounds as a show of strength and power. Watch out LPGA Tour.

Watch your back, Jack

Tiger Woods continued his assault on Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors with yesterday’s win at the PGA Championship. Here’s a comparison of their numbers: